Valencia GP: All to race for at The Decider: Martin grabs pole, Marquez to start second, Bagnaia eighth

Bengaluru, November 5: Pramac Racing rider Jorge Martin has grabbed the pole position for the season ending Valencia GP, with six-time world Champion Marc Marquez second followed by Ducati rider Jack Miller.

Defending champion and 2022 FIM MotoGP World Championship contender Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) pushed as hard has he could - and then some - to earn P4 on the grid at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

Importantly for Yamaha's title contender, he will start a full row ahead of 2022 FIM MotoGP World Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), who qualified eighth - it's been a nervous weekend for Pecco so far and everything is possible in this title fight.

As was the case a fortnight ago in Malaysia, Martin was on the pace immediately in Q2, setting a 1:29.621 which would still be fastest at the end of the first runs.

Valencia GP: Nothing to separate Fabio Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia at The Decider Valencia GP: Nothing to separate Fabio Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia at The Decider

Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) was second on a 1:29.834 and Quartararo fourth on a 1:30.135, while Bagnaia was back to pitlane after a single 1:30.766 which left him 11th when the track went quiet.

Scare for Quartararo

There were yellow flags when Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) had a spill at Turn 6, while Bagnaia toured the run-off at Turn 8.

Quartararo was still on a hot lap and, fortunately for him, it was unaffected as he sought to elevate himself further up the grid. He did indeed move up two spots more to fourth with a 1:29.900 before running into the Turn 2 gravel trap on his final lap of the session.

Heads up

In the end, Martin had no improvement during his second run but still bagged pole, ahead of Marc Marquez and Miller, who kept his berth on the front row despite the tumble.

Quartararo heads up Row 2, next to Q1 graduate Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and the pace-setter in that earlier qualifying session, Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing). Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was classified seventh, ahead of Bagnaia, Zarco, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), and Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar).

Marvelous Marquez

Miller's hopes of one last pole for Ducati had initially disappeared when he crashed at Turn 2, while an under-the-weather Marc Marquez jumped from ninth to P2 when he fired in a 1:30.049.

Bagnaia moved to sixth, ahead of Quartararo, when he set a 1:30.049 before 'El Diablo' leapfrogged his title rival by clocking a 1:30.027.

All set for The Decider

The next time we see MotoGP bikes on-track will be Sunday morning's Warm Up at 9.40 am local time (2.20pm IST), then we will crown our 2022 World Champion - whoever that may be - after lights go out for #TheDecider at 2pm local time (6.30pm IST). Indian audience can catch all the action live on Eurosport channel

THE GRID (Top 10)

1. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) - 1:29.621

2. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.205

3. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.213

4. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.279

5. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.319

6. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.334

7. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.418

8. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.428

9. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.481

10. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 0.503